The Chinese Government has issued new rules defining when corporate data should be regarded as a commercial secret.
The guidelines - published by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) on 26 April and aimed to protect Chinese businesses - classify information such as financial data, resource reserves, merger information and strategic plans as a corporate secret. A commercial secret is ‘information unknown to the public that can bring economic benefit to state-owned companies’, according to the SASAC.
Additionally, under the rules commercial secrets can be classified as state secrets, which means commercial secrets could soon fall within the scope of the Law on Guarding State Secrets.
On 26 April, an amendment to this law was submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for a third review. The amendment would require telecom and internet service providers (ISPs) – domestic as well as international ISPs operating in China – to notify and cooperate with public security and state security authorities if they detect any disclosure or sharing of state secrets on their networks.
Michiel Willems - 2010
